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Re: Keeping score a dying art.

Originally Posted by Roy Tucker

Jeez, really? I'll have to remember that. I always buy one from a vendor for like $1.50. Plus I usually don't have a pencil (yes, I use pencil, I make mistakes) so I buy one of those too. I have a lot of Reds pencils at home.

Yep. And they have the little golf pencils for free too. Unfortunately, they're the kind with no erasers so they may as well be pens. But being free I can't really complain.

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

Originally Posted by Reds Fanatic

If you are looking for a really nice scorebook I recommend Bob Carpenter's scorebook. He has different versions but his fan scorebook is a nice size for taking to the park as has 100 games in it. I have used his scorebooks for years and they are the best I have seen.

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Re: Keeping score a dying art.

I absolutely love scoring games. In fact, I consider myself to be a one-man, local ambassador for teaching others the craft. Coaching my son in baseball over the last 10 years, I always kept the team book as a primary means of ensuring all players received equitable playing time. Of course, while doing that, why not keep the most meaningful stats from the game as a reference?

I was self-taught on scoring, but was totally shocked at how few youth baseball coaches had clear knowledge about proper scoring decisions. The rigor I applied to the craft at the youth level quickly spread to others and I found myself training several other assistant coaches throughout our league.

My son became fascinated with my hobby at an early age, so I shared with him my game records of some very old Reds playoff games. He was on board for learning the principles, so I taught him how to score games at the age of eight.

I personally feel that the knowledge has allowed him to understand the game better as a youth baseball player. He focuses more on proper player defensive assignments, cutoff throws, etc... because he now has the ability to reverse engineer the game down to its most basic elements.

He is 15 now and still loves the art of scoring the game. In fact, his coaches often rely on him to keep their official dugout record over the likes of some of their assistant coaches.

"Booing on opening day is like telling grandma her house smells like old lady."--WOY

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

Originally Posted by goreds2

I kept score of Tom Seaver's no-hitter in 1978 listening to Marty and Joe. I am trying to locate it to have him possibly sign it.

I may have kept score too for that game. I used to some back then. I'm sure some of my old scorebooks I used are in the loft at my mothers house. If I ever get to go through that loft I'm sure I will run across them. I remember buying scorebooks at Riverfront that were suppossed to be the same as the Reds broadcasters used. I think I learned to keep score from my dad and an old scorebook I had bought somewhere when I was really young. My scoring was always simple with 1=pitcher, 2=Catcher and so on. Dots or periods represented RBI's. One straight line was a single,two lines were a double etc.. with a diamond drawing for how the runners advanced. I Just put in HR when a homer was hit with the corresponding dots for the RBI's.
I kept score quite a bit from about the mid 80's to 1989. I would draw up my own scorecard on notebook paper. I watched nearly every game that came on TBS,WGN or the Reds network. I would keep score then keep the stats of the games I kept score each season. As you can imagine the Braves stats were pretty horrid. Just the basics for average HR and RBI. You never heard much or any about OBP or OPS or any of the "newer" stats that are common now. It was a lot fun. It kept you in game and you really pick up on a lot of the nuances of the game that way. At the time I was finishing up college and then had a hard time finding a decent job so I was home a lot and could watch all these games. I'm not able to do it very much at all now. Life usually gets in the way when I start to do it and quite honestly I don't even think about trying to do it much anymore. But this thread may have encouraged me try to score another game or two very soon.

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

I've still got a few scorecards from games I saw in the '60's at Crosley. One with the Giants, Willie Mays hit a pair of dingers.

I designed a pitch chart for my best bud's high school team he was coaching years ago.

And I score at home as often as possible, a la Roy. On the road too. Just sayin'

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~ Mark Twain

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

Originally Posted by WestSideBomber

That one looks cool too. 100 games is a TON!

The Reds should sell a nice scorebook in the team shop. I'd for sure buy one.

They used to. Years ago. My mom (who got me hooked on Reds, WLW and scorekeeping) always got one that was spiral bound with well over 50 games worth in it. Reds logo on the cover. She still has all of her books from 74 through 77. I love going back and looking at those babies. She'd always put in there "And this game is underway" or "And this one belongs to the reds" or "this is the ole' left-hander rounding third and heading for home" (she's a lefty). Just hearing Marty's voice brings back all those memories of sitting by the radio and keeping score with my mom.

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Re: Keeping score a dying art.

I think it would be a good idea if MLB or teams offered a scorecard app for people to download. It might not be as cool as the old paper and pencil system, but it would be a great way to get the younger generations into keeping score. Let it have functionality to be able to import lineups from the team from wifi, allow fans to post to facebook/twitter, and even keep stats like "57% of fans scored it as a hit, 43% error," which could be posted at the end of the game (I wouldn't post that info in real time just to avoid fan unrest over the official scorer's decision).

I know they have unofficial scorecard apps out there, but having that good interact with the team's network would be cool and could promote people using their smartphones for good at the game rather than evil. Plus it's easier cleanup for certain fans whose wives bring them hot dogs with ketchup.

Burn down the disco. Hang the blessed DJ. Because the music that he constantly plays, it says nothing to me about my life.

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

So, a silly question but I figure what the hell...

What do you do with the scorecard and pencil/pen during the game? Like when the Reds do something great and you want to stand up and clap and go woooo? I've gotten fairly adept at tucking card/pencil under my leg and pulling them out when needed. Sometimes I stick the pencil behind my ear but that's a pretty geek look. Sometimes I get a little exuberant and pencil goes rolling down the aisle or flying off my ear.

I seem to be able to get by, but I just wondered what others do at a live game.

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

My ability to keep score finally yielded a positive this year as I ended up being the official scorekeeper for my son's little league team and I got a gift certificate for my "work" --

I kept score for my daughter's softball team for 3 years. Mostly because others didn't want to do it and I knew how. Plus it was a nice way to interact with the other team (I'd walk over to the other side and compare scores with the opposing teams scorekeeper and yak a bit).

At the final get-together, the coaches gave me a nice pen with the inscription "what's the score, Bruce?". I got asked that question about 50 bazillion times a game. A nice thing.

Re: Keeping score a dying art.

I trust each and every poster in this thread more than most mlb official scorers nowadays. Plays that were scored errors 9/10 times 25 years ago are now scored errors 1/10 it seems. I still get a chuckle thinking how Nux would get enraged when he felt a homer scoring decision had been made.

I had to keep score for a living when I was a reporter covering baseball, so I only do it now when I have to: like at my brother's HS games.

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Re: Keeping score a dying art.

Originally Posted by Roy Tucker

So, a silly question but I figure what the hell...

What do you do with the scorecard and pencil/pen during the game? Like when the Reds do something great and you want to stand up and clap and go woooo? I've gotten fairly adept at tucking card/pencil under my leg and pulling them out when needed. Sometimes I stick the pencil behind my ear but that's a pretty geek look. Sometimes I get a little exuberant and pencil goes rolling down the aisle or flying off my ear.

I seem to be able to get by, but I just wondered what others do at a live game.

Simple, I do not applaud, stand, eat, drink or leave my seat for any reason while keeping score. I have been pricing catheters to prepare for the inevitable issues that will come as I age.
Also, I tend to go games alone to avoid the distractions involved with things like conversation.

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Re: Keeping score a dying art.

Originally Posted by _Sir_Charles_

They used to. Years ago. My mom (who got me hooked on Reds, WLW and scorekeeping) always got one that was spiral bound with well over 50 games worth in it. Reds logo on the cover. She still has all of her books from 74 through 77. I love going back and looking at those babies. She'd always put in there "And this game is underway" or "And this one belongs to the reds" or "this is the ole' left-hander rounding third and heading for home" (she's a lefty). Just hearing Marty's voice brings back all those memories of sitting by the radio and keeping score with my mom.

That sounds like the kind I had and was talking about in my post. I think it had 50 games in it. Really would like to find mine. I know all the games in them would have been from the BRM days.

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